For a child, the loss of a parent is the loss of memory itself. Svetlana Alexievich

Remember how the beginning of each September was always filled with excitement? The unofficial start of autumn, that deliciously hectic season of fall festivals and apple picking, pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating, decorating and cookie baking. You had already started listening to Halloween music, and probably already saw Nightmare Before Christmas at least once.

I carry you with me into the world, into the smell of rain & the words that dance between people. And for me, it will always be this way, walking into the light, remembering being alive together. Brian Andreas

Sylvia’s life forever changed on September 15th, 2017, when her daughter, Kaitlyn – KK – Cook, died by suicide at the age of 14. She gives credit to The Compassionate Friends (TCF) for getting her through the initial months of crushing grief.

I know it may sound greedy to want more days with a person who lived so long, but the fact that my mother was 92 does not diminish, it only magnifies, the enormity of the room whose door has now quietly shut. Stephen Colbert

I am a mother, grandmother, teacher; shattered by the loss of the greatest love I have ever been privileged to share, attempting to adopt the poetry and principles of those who have endured before me.